Thread: Rear Tire Swing

So I have had the idea in my head for a while and finally got around to starting it! Make a "hidden" rear tire swing.
Pulling the bumper on and off is a piece of pie, taking the rear impact bumper off is a little more difficult when pulling the inside of the boot out, but doing it all over and over again is the back breaking bit! So after this hopefully you wont have to as I will be intending to sell these as a kit once I have sorted all the bugs and s#@t.

So here is the initial stages of the build (Only the mount on the swinging side done)

Now the edges of the bumper cut are a little rough but I will be wrapping the bumper in the same vinyl as the rest of the car to cover my poor plastic working skills (metal is much more forgiving).

The large gap in the plastic when the swing is in the closed position will be covered with the original cut out section mounted on a hinge and spring loaded to fold in and out with the arm (In my case a piece of aluminum and vinyl wrapped because my piece of bumper is in several pieces)

Another issue so far is that I have underestimated the forces with the 5 foot long HD bar hanging off it and a full sized spare wheel and I need to re-engineer the bracing to stop a small amount of flex in the mount (Annoyed I have to pull it on and off a few more times) but I am confident that all will be sorted and still hidden from view.

The other side will use a door latch mounted under the skin of the bumper and a small slot cut into it for the striker pin fitted to the end of the swing arm. Ideally I would like to use an electric latch to match the rear of the rangie but for now it will be mechanical.

I am intending to have it all powder coated in the matte gray and the addition of a folding kitchen bench with sink on the inside and water plumbing just for kicks.

Ill be adding more pics as I go

Update time, I have been a little busy...

So i solved the flexing issue by adding a larger top brace and bolting to the extremity of the rear impact bar. Not ideal in my mind but really has increased the strength.

I modified the mount between the pivot and the removable arm (Much better now)

After I thought it was good fixed, i was swinging around on the 5' arm for a few times started to hear some cracking...oh dear. The stress of a 5' bar focused on a small hinge with 80kgs is phenomenal, broke 4"s of decent welds! So I had to grind them all back and put up with keep tripping the power to the shed because the welder was showing me what it could really do, eventually i doubled the amount of welds (Now a 6mm double fillet) has proved to be reliable.

Also mounted the modified bonnet latch from a suzuki sierra and cut the bumper on the left to suit. So far works a treat. ATM there is a ziptie as the latch release but ill be using an indented type tool box latch or something similar and it will be on the top of the bumper just below the left tail light. time will tell with what i find really.

To keep it open I have added a spring to the stub axle and mounted to the body.

The tyre mount itself is still under construction, but so far it is mounted on a pivot (to tilt forward so you can open the top boot without having to use the whole swing) some fine tuning still to go but insanely happy with it so far!

Check out the pics and add your feedback!